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The Free People (Episode)
The Free People is the eighth episode of Issuing Orders, featuring the brutal Erhard Strumfelder, his adopted daughter Adelheid, former soldier Joe Claude and Gestapo officer Otto Wolff. It chronicles the escape of Adelheid from Strumfelder, after running away from her first Jungmädelbund meeting, and the freedom sought by Joe Claude after becoming a slave labourer of the Nazis. Plot The prologue opens in a schoolyard, situated in the shadow of a Schutzstaffel building. As "Aryan" children play and enjoy the beautiful autumn day, one sits alone, sitting beneath the branches of a magnificent oak tree. It is none other than Adelheid, now a Strumfelder through adoption, reading a history textbook taken from a local library. Remarks about her hair and eye colour have made her feel like an outcast, as well as her rejection of Nazism in a Nazi-oriented school, placed directly in the neighbouring SS base and meant for the children of SS members. She has no intention of socializing with any of the little girls or boys. From beyond the fence beside the girl, separating the schoolyard from the rest of the world, yelling can be heard. It catches Adelheid's attention, and, fearing Strumfelder or her stern schoolteacher is the source, jumps slightly. However, it is not her guardian nor her educator, but rather, several SS men, pointing guns at prisoners in shabby uniforms. Adelheid, naïve to what is going on beyond the fence, decides that it is none of her business to what is going on beyond the fence. She sits back down to enjoy her book.... ...Only to be startled by a cawing sound high above her, strangely familiar to the child. Meanwhile, what was once a proud face now looks sullen, callused, injured hands lifting boxes too heavy for the skinny man to hold. This man is Joe Claude, once again in Erhard Strumfelder's grasp, having come to Germany to meet with Strumfelder after the man threatened to hurt Adelheid via a letter. When he takes too long to move a box, he is struck to the ground by an annoyed SS man. Fate is about to reunite him with Adelheid, whom he had not seen since Adelheid's first attempt to run away from the Pierponts. The angel of Rhys Bevan appears in the form of an unusually shiny raven, hopping from branch to branch to meet his daughter. Joyously, Adelheid begins to voice her relief at seeing her father's angel, but the divine bird takes flight. Scared at losing her angel again, Adelheid follows the raven, until he lands on the fence at a neglected corner of the schoolyard. Adelheid attempts to berate her father, but the sound of a body hitting cobblestones distracts her. Curiosity caught by this, she peeks through the nearby fence, seeing an SS man yelling at a prisoner on the ground. She does not know who he is, at first, even hiding in the tall grasses of the corner when he spots her, fearing a reprimand for spying on the men. But then, her name is called. Looking at the man, Adelheid begins to answer with a plea to not tell anyone she is there. However, her mind begins to work, the gears in her head suddenly turning, and the odd scars on the man's face bring forth a name: Herr Claude. She answers him back, telling him where she is. Joe Claude, disbelieving at first that it is Adelheid in the playground, immediately sneaks over to talk to the girl. He asks Adelheid what she is doing in Germany, but before he can get an answer, an SS man calls out from behind the fence. Strumfelder has been looking for his daughter, and grows more and more furious when he cannot find her. Panicking, thinking she has somehow escaped him, he eventually sends SS men out into the schoolyard, ready to tear apart Adelheid when he finds her. Panicking herself, Adelheid tries to hide in the tall grasses, but to no avail. The SS man picks her up by her arm, hefting her into the air for Strumfelder to see. The SS man is shocked, however, to see Strumfelder smash the butt of his pistol into the top of his own daughter's head. Strumfelder ignores this, turning to Claude, pointing and accusing the Jew in English of attempting to harm Adelheid. What happens next is ironic, but not unheard of for the SS doctor - he grabs his child by the arm, throws her onto the ground, and kicks her hard enough in the abdomen to break ribs. It then appears that he is to shoot her, but then stomps on her face, turns around and shoots at Claude's leg, despite his daughter's cry to leave Claude alone. In pain, Claude falls to the ground, the shots having nicked an artery. As blood begins to pool, he feels himself lifted to his feet by the SS men on his side of the fence. A disoriented Adelheid lies helplessly on the ground, unable to help her friend. Once more, Erhard Strumfelder proves just how much of a bloodthirsty, dangerous man he can be when provoked. Little Adelheid, however, continues to dream of freedom, determined to find a way to finally escape her so-called "father". Two months later, Adelheid's dream finally comes true, but not without a close call. We see her, on a cold, rainy day, wearing a white sweater usually worn under her dirndl, and a plain brown skirt. She is examining a group of marching prisoners, waiting for her chance to sneak out and blend in. Her hope is to find Joe Claude, whom she trusts as a friend and as "the kindest Not-Nazi of all", and help him escape the Nazis as well. She succeeds in fooling the nearby SS men, ordered into the line by a guard who thinks she is a Jew. As all of this is happening, Otto Wolff, officer of the Gestapo, is pulling up to the line of prisoners. It turns out that the line is actually bound for Auschwitz, from which the prisoners are expected to never return. The man seeks Claude, for Otto's wife, Zelda Agatha Wolff, wanted to give Claude a better life as a servant to her. She had taken pity upon the Jew after seeing him working one day, and the cruel working conditions he was under. With his assistant, Brenner, in tow, Otto gives the order to the nearby SS men to halt the line. These orders are followed, and Joe Claude is singled out, and brought to Otto. Adelheid, who had spotted Claude shortly beforehand, runs out of the line, screaming for Claude to take her with him. She is nearly dragged back to her death by the guards, but Otto stops them. He sees Adelheid as a potential fountain of knowledge about his new employee, and arranges for her to be taken to his house along with Claude. A car ride follows, and an hour or so later, Brenner, Otto, Adelheid and Claude arrive at the Wolff residence: a fancy, apartment-esque building. Over sandwiches, Otto, Claude and Adelheid talk. Claude explains his past, and how he came to be in the line marked for death. Adelheid, not wanting to reveal her identity to a potential colleague of Strumfelder's, introduces herself as simply "Heidi". She carefully words her story, explaining her past in the orphanage, then claiming that the Nazis "were chasing her" after and eventually found her, despite her best efforts to avoid them. Adelheid then claims to have met Claude while on the run, and Otto, suspicious of her story, questions Claude about it. Claude, caught off guard, soon reveals he met Adelheid at a hospital that later exploded. Otto is satisfied with this, and plans on checking his sources to see if Claude is telling the truth. After a short moment of chaos due to the family dog, Luger, stealing a sandwich from young Adelheid, Otto announces that he will be taking Claude to the local Gestapo station. He claims he cannot "keep a Jew in his house", and Adelheid becomes enraged. Determined to protect her friend, she runs over and hugs Claude tightly, despite having still-sore ribs from the schoolyard incident. (She is somewhat of a slow healer due to starving herself a few months beforehand). She defends Claude, asking Otto "what is wrong with him", concerned about Claude's blistered feet and bloodied elbow from his harsh treatment. For a moment, Otto is speechless, his entire system of beliefs thrown into conflict about whether a Jew is human or not. However, the Nazi code is one he follows strongly, and he reassures Adelheid that nothing will happen to Claude. He then tells Claude the ex-soldier will remain in "working condition", much to Claude's disgust. Otto then allows Adelheid and Claude to say their goodbyes to each other, Brenner escorting Claude out afterward, Adelheid taken on a tour of the house by Otto. Not long after, Otto would receive a letter from Strumfelder, the doctor begging Otto to assist the fellow Nazi in finding little Adelheid. Otto has accepted Strumfelder's request, set to have a meeting with the "concerned father" to discuss the future investigation. The Gestapo officer does not realize Strumfelder's true intentions, in which the brutal doctor plans to murder his daughter for being so rebellious. As he states it, "She is too much of an embarrassment to the Strumfelder family name!" The thread is still ongoing. Heidi eventually settles into her new home, although she still is slightly afraid of Otto, due to her past abuse. Otto appears, at first, intimidating and cold; however, it is only because he fears his past failures as a father. First marriage having fallen apart because of alcohol, Otto believes he is unfit as a father figure. Despite this, he does show signs of hope, as seen when Adelheid gets ink on his good flooring, and when Adelheid asks Otto some history questions in his study. Joe, meanwhile, continues to be a worker in Otto's courtyard. Despite having been saved from certain death, he is depressed and terribly homesick. He no longer wants to be in Germany, and feels that, especially with the brutal facial scars he has, he will have no future ahead of him. It is revealed that Joe's mother cried when he last went home, and could barely look at her son, while his father put on a brave face. But as Joe puts it, "all that was fake". One day, after a frustratingly slow renovation of Otto's patio, Joe sits on the ground and has a breakdown. Otto happens to walk into his courtyard, having just arrived home from work, and notices the weeping Jew. Going over to Joe, he asks what is wrong, and Joe asks Otto if he could be "Joe for a day." The two descend into conversation, in which Joe bitterly states his hatred of Germany and the Nazis. Otto counters him at several points, but surprisingly, shows that his views on Nazi-ruled Germany are not as fanatic as one might believe. It is a sign that Otto is beginning to soften, that he is gradually turning his viewpoints on Nazism around, especially after witnessing some of the horrors in the concentration camps. Trivia * This is the first episode to break the naming convention of naming episodes after their centric characters. {| style="width:100%; padding:0.5em; margin-top:2em; border-top:1px solid #aaf;" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="5" |- | | style="text-align:right;" | List of Episodes Stephen • Rhys and McMillan • Nathan and Niamh • Brentwood • The Reuinted • Wolfram• Strumfelder• Adelheid • Merhoff • The Free People• Nicholas •Stormcrow • Category:List of Issuing Orders Episodes